Edge trimmer for lawns



March 31;Tv 1931. 1 E ER|CK5ON I EDGE TRIMMER FOR LAWNS Filed Sept.

. ckson 'or-neya u Patented Mar. 31, 1931 EDGE TRIMMER FOR LAWNS Application4 filed 4September 3,1929. Serial 'No'. 389,883."

My .inventionl relates f to edgel trimmers Jfor lawns; andI lit relates 1 particularly to devices forrtrimming,Pi ther edges of i lawns or' other places in which the :grassi s not `cut smoothly lby'the lawn mower which is 'customaril-yemplyedi Among the objects ofthe-invention y arefkthe 2 provision ofa supporting plate y l:tor the cutting blades ofl thedevicegmeans whereb-yvthe `cutting:` l blades are| held together resi-l-iently under 1 springy tension? which maybe adjiusted; and' means whereby` the cutting blades may be readilymem'oved forv i sharpeningr v v Thefnlllobjectsand advantages of my in- "venti'onlwilll xappear fin' connection with the detailed descriptionl)tlfiereof;and the novel eaturesfo-l? myginventivefidea willbe particularlyplointedf fout in the claims.V

In` the .'accompanyingr` ydrawings which illustrate onef'form' in which myfinvention may bef embodied,i-

F--iga2-1 isf=atopplan 'view 4of lthef device. F1i`gf2 is 'l ai bottom Vplan" 'view of thefcutting portioniof'ftheidevice inopenposition.` a Fig'. "3`is' a: tp'plarr` Jview oli thef cutting `portion of the `device infclosedipositi'on Figflfisian elevationalview: olithe device. FiggrV isa viewnin-:section oni the line 5Y5ot Figfl `and on'aanenlargediscale. Fig'.l 6' is'fawviewfin- 1sectio'nfonith'e lines66 ofy lFigrfl 'and on' an` enlarged scale;r Fig. 71is arde`tail view showing the f two f .cuttingf blades-"sep arated from: reach l othenrs Referring',= tothe construction Ishown in the drawings.v the numeral 10 designates a supp'ortingplatehaving theshape-best shown in Figit2fand havingf fa rearwardly extending f upwardlyA offset tang 12 which is I secured Ain the lowerrendiof? at handle =member 14 as show-n in Figi'll. The plate 10atits rear 'is' provided withra pair of spaceddownwardly extending fears v16" and1 d8" :whi-chi are Lperforated ftd4 eonstitutefbearings z for -the' shaft 2O otiaroller'22, 'thre'aded'study 24 extending uprdromhthe plate Vl()Vv as :best shown inv Fig. Gconstitutes f a'apivot for 'a 'pairfof fcrossed I cuttingfblades 26" andV 28 having the" shape bestshownfinFigr' which shows themseparated. from .eachuother; They iblades` 261 and l 501 28are provided 'Withi'lhioles30.` and 32vrespectively;through.y whiehlthe stud 24 extends whenthe blades are@ placed inassembled position.y` Thef'iholes BOVand 32 are'leated betweeny themain portions oi thefblades and arms 34 and '361extendinginwardly substan- 55 tially at rightl angles to the: main lportions respectively: rIfheA blades i l outwardly) from thev holes fan`d'32 are provided witharcuate slots 38""and l40- while' inwardly;v from these holes, the arms 34 and BG'areprovidedvwith"60 apertures 42 'and 44. Atenthe blades have been placedimpositionv -onf the stud24,- a spring i washer v 46fis placed thereon and a `flanged nut'i 48'lislscrewedf down upon the washer to hold theblades"together':resilient- 65 ly. A cotter pin 50 is then passedthrough hole's in theistud'andinubltodiold the latter in adjnstedposition.'A A'4 hand-engageable lever 521is pivoted to the upper endf "of the handle member i145 A rodl E54 iis i att-ached at 70 its upper endto the--lowerend of the lever i2-and 'after passingf-tl1'1ough` agu'ide f56f`on the handle Vmemberhas its lower .end attached to a1 bar 58*slidablyrattached "tofthe handle member `byv means offafscrew '60 passingiw through a Vslot 62' inthe bar andscrewed. into theJ handle members' The-lowery endof lthe bar 58 isforked'to'provide branches A64 whose lower =end portions are bent up'vvardly'to provide lugs l'asshownfins Figa'V 5. These lugsf 80 after passing up through slots 68 inftheplate 10 pass through the aperture 44 and theslot 38I on one side of the pivot 24fand-through the slot "40 andr the Vaperture 42 'onl the other sideof the pivot.- Inl orderito-normally hold 85 the blades 26 and 28 in openl position` as shown in Fig.' l, afsp'ring 7 0f has'its/middleiportion coiledI around theflanged nut' f48asshown in Fig. 6 while thefends of thisfspringlengage bark of the twolugs :66 asbesto shown in k 90 The operation .and advantages of my; invention will `be obvousiin connection with the foregoing description.V The operator grasps the upper portion of .the handlemema ber 14 with enefofhis hands onf thellever 52 and pushes the Ldevice .along the ground. Since the cutting blades=rest uponf-the supporting-*plate 10' which*y carries fthe ground-engagingrollerl 22,-"theheight atwhichthegrass' me is cut may be readily varied by tilting the handle member 14 upwardly or downwardly. The blades are quickly brought together to make the cut by pulling on the lever Upon releasing this lever, the blades are quickly opened by the spring so as to be ready to make another cut. lt will be understood that upon removing the eotter pin 50, the nut 48 may be turned up or down to adjust the tension with which the cutting bla-des are held together and upon completely unscrewing the nut 48, the blades may be removed for shapening.

By referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, it will be seen that the supporting plate 10 at one side of the pivot 24 is forwardly extended so as to project underneath the lower blade 2 for a considerable portion of the length thereof. In practice, l have found that the length of the forwardly extended portion of the plate lO should preferably be at least half the length of the cutting edges of the blades an-d that the edges of said forwardly extending portion should preferably converge so as to meet in a point at the forward end thereof. I have found that the provision of this forwardly extending supporting plate prevent-s the grass which is being cut from pulling the cutting blades downwardly and thus insures a clean even cut of the grass.

I claim:

l. An edge trimmer for lawns comprising a handle member, a supporting plate carried by the lower end of said handle member, cutting blades pivotally mounted on said supporting plate, said plate at one side thereof having a forwardly extended portion which projects underneath the lower one of said cutting blades for a considerable portion of the length thereof, spring mechanism for normally holding said cutting blades in open position, a hand-engageable member carried by the upper end of said handle member, and connections between said hand-engageable member and said cutting blades for closing the latter.

Q. An edge trimmer for lawns comprising a handle member, a supporting plate carried by the lower end of said handle member, a ground-engaging roller carried by said supporting plate, cutting blades pivotally mounted on said supporting plate, said plate at one side thereof having a forwardly extended portion which projects underneath the lower one of said cutting blades for a considerablo portion of the length thereof, spring mechanism for normally holding said cutting Y blades in open position, a hand-engageable member carried by vthe upper end of said handle member, and connections between said hand-engageable member and said cutting blades for closing the latter.

3. An edge trimmer for lawns comprising a handle member, a supporting plate carried by the lower end of said handle member, a

threaded stud extending up from said supporting plate, cutting blades pivoted on said stud, said plate at one side thereof having a forwardly extended portion which projects underneath the lower one of said cutting blades for a considerable portion of the length thereof, a spring washer on said stud resting upon said blades, a nut adapted to be screwed down upon said washer, spring mechanism for normally holding said cutting blades in open position, a hand-engageable member carried by the upper end of said handle member, and connections between said hand-engageable member and said cutting blades for closing the latter.

4. An edge trimmer for lawns comprising a handle member, a supporting plate carried by the lower end of said handle member, a threaded stud extending up from said supporting plate, cutting blades pivoted on said stud, a spring washer on said stud resting upon said blades, a nut adapted to be screwed down upon said washer, said stud and nut having holes, a cotter pin adapted to pass through said holes when in register for hold-c ing said blades under adjustable tension, spring mechanism for normally holding said cutting blades in open position, a hand-engageable member carried by the upper end of said handle member, and connections between said hand-engageable member and said cutting blades for closing the latter.

5. An edge trimmer for lawns comprising a handle member, a supporting plate carried by the lower end of said handle member, cutting blades pivotally mounted on said supporting plate, said plate at one side thereof having a forwardly extended portion which projects underneath the lower one of said cutting blades for a considerable portion of the length thereof, spring mechanism for normally holding said cutting blades in open position, a lever pivoted on the upper end of said handle member, a forked plate slidably mounted on the lower end of said handle member, the branches of the fork being engaged respectively with said cutting blades, and a rod connecting said plate and lever whereby operation of the latter closes said cutting blades.

6. An edge trimmer for lawns comprising a handle member, a supporting plate carried by the lower end of said handle member, said plate containing a pair of slots, a stud extending up from said plate, a pair of" crossed cutter blades pivoted on said stud, each of said blades having an arcuate slot and an aperture on opposite sides of the pivot, spring mechanism for normally holding said cutter blades in open position, a lever pivotedl on the upper end of said handle member, a forked plate slidably mounted on the lower end of said handle member, upwardly turned lugs on the ends of the forked branches, said lugs respectively passing through a slot of said plate and vthrough a slot and aperture of said blades, and a rod connecting said plate and lever whereby operation of the latter closes said cutter blades.

7. An edge trimmer for lawns comprising a handle member, a supporting plate carried by the lower end of said handle member, cutting blades pivotally mounted on said supporting plate, said plate at one side thereof having a forwardly extended portion which projects underneath the lower one of said cutting blades for a considerable portion of the length thereof, and mechanism for oscillating said blades in soissorslike manner.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aix my signature.

JOHN E. ERICKSON. 

